In sports, as in many other areas, practice is required to develop skills to their highest potential. In basketball, basket shooting is of prime importance since scoring is based on sinking baskets. Shooting proficiency is desirable for all players, since all players in a game may have an opportunity to shoot, either during normal play or for free throws. When a basketball is shot toward the basket, it may return to the shooter; more often, however, it lands at a position which requires the shooter to retrieve the ball or for someone else to return it to the shooter. During team practice, several players may cooperate whereby turns are taken in shooting and ball returning. However, when a player practices alone, a considerable amount of tedium can result from the continual need to chase down the ball.
There have been a number of arrangements devised to facilitate basketball shooting practice by returning the ball to the shooter. Some devices of this nature do not use a regulation size and weight ball or hoop or do not position the hoop at the regulation height. Such nonregulation devices do not develop muscular strength, coordination, and technique which is directly transferable to a regulation court. Other devices of this type provide a regulation size and height hoop; however, the backboard and hoop are integral to the apparatus, resulting in increased cost and complexity in setup.
An area which most of the prior basketball shot training devices do not address is proper shooting technique. It has been observed that many players tend to shoot from their hips or from in front of their faces. Such a manner of shooting blinds the shooter to the target of the shot, risks facial or eye injury, and makes defense of the shot easier for opposing players. It is generally believed that a shot with a high arch from the hands held above the head is less likely to be blocked by an opposing player and is difficult to steal without fouling the shooter.
What is needed is a basketball training device which facilitates shooting practice, which can be used with virtually any existing type of regulation basketball goal, and which has features that require the player to use good shooting technique.